NOTE: During this season, a child was born; a son was given; a marriage was arranged, so you and I could live happily ever after. Over the next few weeks, we will discuss Key Essentials of Love and Marriage. While I do not attest to be an expert on this subject, my heart longs to share some essentials God is challenging me with to become a better husband and mate. Enjoy.
"Wives, be subject (be submissive and adapt yourselves) to your own husbands as [a service] TO THE LORD. For the husband is head of the wife as Christ is the Head of the church, Himself the Savior of [His] body. As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word." -The Apostle Paul
Both service and sacrifice are required in marriage.
"I did it unto Him," must be the cry of wives.
"I laid my life down for the bride as Christ did," must be the cry of husbands.
Paul wrote:
· Wives submit to your husbands "as a service."
· Husbands lay down your life for your wives "as a sacrifice."
You can't have one without the other in marriage, so God said if you will become "one" you will have both.
If I don't do my part, God can't do His part; that's the mystery of Jesus and the church (His bride).
Joyce Meyer recently said, "You have a part and God has a part; He will not do your part and you can't do His part (paraphrased.)" The same mystery of "oneness" exists in marriage. If you don't do your part, you and your mate cannot "become" one.
Jesus restated Genesis 2:24 in Mark 10:7-9: "For this reason a man shall leave [behind] his father and his mother and be joined to his wife and cleave closely to her permanently, and the two shall become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has united (joined together), let not man separate or divide."
That word "become" means: to come into existence, to undergo change or development, to make fit, be suitable or similar in resemblance.
If we are "becoming" one, then God is still working on us and we have not arrived yet.
Just because your present does not look like your destiny, doesn't mean you are not going (to get) there.
Just because your life does not resemble Christ, does not mean you are not called to be like Him.
Just because you and your spouse are not "one" does not mean you are not destined to be together.
· What if you didn't make a mistake?
· What if you did find your soul mate and the enemy is simply trying to tear you away from what God joined together?
· What if sacrifice and service were embodied in that marriage (present or future?)
Imagine that wedding ceremony: "Will you "Sacrifice" take you "Service" to be your lawfully wedded spouse? To have and to hold, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish 'til death do you part?"
Could you make that kind of vow or promise?
If not, today, we have the same spirit of service and sacrifice that put Christ on the cross to strengthen us to this standard of love.
We cannot become one, until we do our part (the half) that makes the two cleave and cohere together as one.
Your role is not contingent upon your spouse.
The mandate to serve and sacrifice is not dependent upon anyone else. YOUR SPOUSE IS A PERMANENT FIX IN YOUR LIFE. Your sacrifice and service actually heals and fixes you. It conforms you into the image of Christ
When I lay down my life, it is not taken from me; and I cannot view it as something just for wife; it is for me - to transform me into His likeness, His patience, love and kindness. Likewise, when my wife submits, it is not for me, to boost my ego; it is to heal and change her.
Today, God wants to fill your life with "good things" if you are willing to lay it down, expecting nothing in return.
Love is an amazing gift to sow in the lives of people. King Solomon wrote: "Many waters cannot quench it, floods cannot drown it; it is stronger than death." And even if all the love we enjoy is forgotten, God visits us again with fresh love; His mercies are new EVERY morning.
When you and I choose not to lay down our lives for others, we are in disobedience. True godly love is always willing to "give up" something in order for someone else to live (Jn. 3:16.)
Husbands, if you are having a bad day and feel like a failure, just go back to the basics: "Be sacrifice".
Wives, when he gets on your LAST nerve, "Be service."
It's God's pattern for a marriage happily ever after.
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Post your best marriage advice on our FACEBOOK page below.
